Peace for Paris and Moving Towards a Global Peace

The world was left shaken Friday, November 13 after a series of coordinated attacks on Paris left 129 dead and 433 injured. Since the Charlie Hebdo shootings earlier in 2015, France has been on alert for acts of terrorism.

Three teams of assailants led seven different attacks, including four suicide bombings and six shootings. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have claimed these attacks as their own.

The Attacks

Three of the suicide bombings occurred near the Stade de France during a friendly match between the soccer teams of France and Germany. The French President, François Hollande, was evacuated from the stadium at half time, while the German foreign minister stayed behind. The two teams and the audience were kept unaware of the incident until after the game had ended. Two of the detonations could be heard on the live broadcasts.

At around 9:20 p.m. the shootings at the rue Bichat and the rue Alibert began; attackers shot towards Le Carillon, a café and bar, before moving towards Le Petit Cambodge, a nearby restaurant. Eleven people died at the restaurant.

Between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m., three separate attacks on restaurants occurred along the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi, the rue de Charonne, and the boulevard Voltaire. At 9:32 p.m., a man with a machine gun fired shots outside Café Bonne Bière on the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi; five people were killed and eight were injured. At 9:36 p.m. on the rue de Charonne, two people fired for several minutes outside La Belle Équipe; nineteen people were killed and nine were left in a critical condition. At 9:40 p.m. a man detonated a suicide vest at the Comptoir Voltaire café after placing an order; fifteen were injured, one of them seriously hurt.

Shortly thereafter, at around 9:45 p.m., the Bataclan theatre entered a hostage situation. Three men with AK-47 rifles open-fired on the crowd and threw hand grenades. At first the audience mistook the attack as a pyrotechnics show. Then, at approximately 10:00 p.m., the three men took 60-100 people hostage as police gathered outside. After midnight, when reports began to say that the men were killing hostages, French police began their assault. 89 people were killed in the Bataclan massacre.

Seven of the eight perpetrators died at the scenes.

France Responds

Immediately after the attacks, François Hollande called a state of emergency in France. All of Paris was advised to stay indoors. Police and the French army closed the borders. Flights into the country were rerouted until French intelligence were confident that it was safe to reopen the borders.

People in Paris not affected by the attacks tweeted out with the hashtag #portesouvertes,(translated to mean “doors open”) offering their homes to complete strangers who were left out in the streets and searching for a safe place to go.

The memorial outside Le Carillon cafe and bar, where eleven people were shot and killed. Credit: CNN

Facebook instated a Security Check feature for its French users. Facebook users in the area received a notification to “check in” for the sake of their loved ones. The feature is relatively new—it was released in October 2014 and has been used sparingly since.

France entered three days of national mourning. A mass funeral was held at the Cathédrale de Notre Dame. Makeshift memorials were created at the Bataclan theatre and the Carillon restaurant, among other sites. The Eiffel Tower, one of the most popular sites in Paris, was closed. Hollande suggested amendments to the French Constitution that would possibly prevent future acts of terrorism, as well as creating the ability to revoke citizenship of French-born terrorists.

On November 14, France ordered air strikes to be performed on the ISIL capital of Raqqa. On November 16, these strikes were carried out, with 10 aircraft dropping 20 bombs on Raqqa. Among the facilities hit were an ISIL training camp and a command center.

The World

Since the attacks in Paris occurred, many countries around the world have expressed their condolences and solidarity. Monuments that have the ability to be lighted have been bathed in the national colors of France—blue, white, and red—to show the country’s support for Paris in its time of mourning.

Buildings around the world lit up in the colors of the French Tricolor as the Eiffel Tower sits dark.

Many European countries have started to rethink their policies on accepting refugees in the wake of the Syrian civil war. Although President Barack Obama has declared that the American borders will remain open to people seeking refuge, at least 27 states have determined to close their individual borders.

The hacktivist group Anonymous has declared a digital war on ISIL on November 16. In two days of work, they took down 3,824 pro-ISIL twitter accounts and have released personally identifiable information about ISIL recruiters.

Across the globe, people held candlelight vigils for the victims of the attacks in Paris. Cities that participated in vigils include Islamabad, Turkey; Budapest, Hungary; Rio de Janeiro; London, England; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Outside of French Embassies and Consulates around the world, people are creating makeshift memorials. Stacks of flowers sit near the entrances of these buildings. People stop by to offer prayers for the victims and their families, and for France itself.

In addition to showing signs of support for Paris, the United States has increased security in both New York City and Washington D.C., where armed police stand at the ready in Times Square and outside all government buildings.

World leaders such as President Barack Obama and French president François Hollande have begun to call ISIL by the term the militant group despises: Daesh. While ISIS and ISIL are basically synonyms using terms that are alternate translations of each other, Daesh (an Arabic acronym for al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham) can be translated to either “to trample down and crush” or “a bigot who imposes his view on others,” according to Boston Globe writer Zeba Khan.

Why?

The facts of the situation are straightforward. A simple Google search or a quick glance through any newspaper will provide the statistics of those killed, those injured, how France has reacted, how the world is reacting. Why these attacks have been executed, why these attacks happened at all, is a much more difficult question to answer.

Dr. Anthony Dragani, professor of Religious Studies, provided a concise summary of the technical reasons for why ISIL has done this. “The attacks in Paris are part of a strategy to draw the West into an all-out war with ISIS in Syria,” Dragani said in an email. “ISIS is motivated by an obscure prophecy that one day the armies of the West will face the armies of the caliphate in northern Syria, and that this battle will trigger a sequence of events culminating in the apocalypse.” Dragani continued: “Their hope is that horrific attacks, like those that took place in Paris, will get the attention of Western powers and bring about the war that they so desperately want.”

It is impossible for everyone to know the textbook reason for ISIL’s attacks. Almost everyone recognizes that they are an extremist group derived from the religion of Islam. Dr. Dragani’s explanation, however, is just one of many theories circulating the internet.

Some believe that ISIL wants to overshadow al-Qaeda to become the global jihad leader. Others think that this is simply what jihadists do—they can’t help but to cause terror by mass killings. ISIL could also be trying to deter larger, more powerful nations from attacking it.

The world may never know the specific causes for the attacks in Paris, but one thing has become very clear: not all Muslims are to blame for the actions of ISIL.

“Peace for Paris” by French artist Jean Jullien has been circulating Facebook since the November 13 attacks on Paris.

“They are trying to make everyone think all Muslims are bad people and make this divide between Muslims and non-Muslims,” says senior business major Colton Wilkinson. “This is not only an attack on non-Muslims — this hurts the Muslims that are condemning these terrible acts of violence as much as it does the rest of us.” Wilkinson added: “I think it is imperative that everyone realizes that not all Muslims are bad. It is a very, very, very small number of ‘Muslims,’ if you can even call them that, that are perpetuating this violence. I cannot stress enough how important that is. If nothing else comes of this–we must stand by the real Muslims and make sure no one alienates them because of this.”

A poll done by LifeWay Research shows that 27% of Americans believe that ISIL represents the ideals and actions of true Islamic society. In all reality, the majority of Muslims are not jihadists. The majority of ISIL’s victims, however, are Muslim. The problems in Syria have been linked with ISIL, with Raqqa being among the extremist group’s centers of command.

Because of these statistics, Muslims in America are scared. Subait Al Subayt, a freshman in the Radiology program is a Muslim from Saudi Arabia. He has been in America for a very short amount of time, and he is the first in his family to attend college in America. “I am scared that people will think all Muslims, including me, think like the terrorists. Most all Muslims do not condone this violence. In fact, many people in my country have died at the hands of these same terrorists. They attack Muslims as much as they attack westerners and non-Muslims. Subait Al Subayt continued: “I hope that everyone realizes that not all Muslims are terrorists. We are peaceable people that are just like everyone else. We don’t like violence and we don’t want to kill anyone.”

Looking Forward

To some, it may seem impossible to look ahead. Some may believe that it is futile to look to the future of the world because it is unlikely that any predictions will come true. Hope, however, cannot be smothered. This, of course, is why religion exists. Many people at Mount Aloysius are looking ahead with hope.

Sophomore David Snoberger gives a few ideas for how to proceed in the short-term. “We can’t overreact. We condemn their actions. We take proactive steps to make sure this doesn’t happen around the globe, but we cannot be frozen in fear. We cannot bring ourselves to the level of these terrorists and let them dominate our lives.”

As David insists, the world cannot overreact. The world should not fall to the same level as ISIL. The people of the world should look to the future as an opportunity to fight ISIL and other extremists.

There is a meme circulating Facebook of a Muslim talk show host in Australia speaking on what fuels ISIL and its supporters.

Hate. Hatred of Muslims. It may seem like a cliché to say that every religion needs to be respected, including Muslims, but it is the truth. Just as Waleed Aly states, the hatred of Muslims only drives them towards ISIL. France itself has recognized this, and as of November 18, is upholding its earlier commitment to allow 30,000 Syrian refugees into their country.

Lessening the hatred towards Muslims is definitely a start, but it is also necessary to lessen the hatred of the Western world. Dr. Michael Jones, director of the Library and an associate professor believes that this is a necessary step toward healing the world.

“My only hope is that we can find a way to reveal the futility of such violence and a way to assuage the anger and hostility so many feel toward the West,” Jones said. “A fair distribution of the world’s wealth and an end to our exploitation of other lands for their oil and natural resources would go a long way toward easing resentments.”

One thing is definitely certain. Things must change. An easy start to this was proposed by several students in an email discourse on the subject of the Paris attacks: we must all come together as citizens of the world to promote a culture of love and compassion.

Subait, Colton, and David all suggested this notion of coming together to fight ISIL through cooperation and being compassionate with other countries. Freshman Timberly Robinson agrees. “I would hope that the world would be able to see right through ISIS’s tactics to divide and conquer. There should instead, be unification. Paris needs support, as do the other countries that have been affected by this reign of terror. I would like to see the world rally behind Paris.”

“I cannot say for certain how I think America and the world should response to the events that have occurred,” says sophomore Claire Kirsch. “But I can say that no matter how we response, we must commit for the long haul. This is not an issue that will disappear over the next few months, this is an issue that will span generations.”

Senior Anna Jacobeen has a more compassionate hope for the future. “ISIS has clearly identified themselves as being anti-western civilization. What can we do to alleviate this situation? Firstly, we can battle their hate with love. By responding with fear of Islam and Syrian people, we accomplish exactly what ISIS has set out to do. So, rather than stereotyping all Muslims as terrorists, we should do our best to support and aid those who truly practice the peaceful religion.”

It is important to keep this idea of compassion and support in mind as the world moves forward, and even when the attacks in Paris become a distant memory. The world truly is what people make of it.

Courtney Edmundson is an English major with a concentration in Theatre at Mount Aloysius. She has been on the Belltower staff since her freshman year. In addition to her work on the Belltower, Courtney has assisted in producing several shows on campus with the Mount Aloysius Theatre Department and works as Vice President for the Mount Aloysius Drama Club. Courtney enjoys directing and managing various theatre projects in the community and writing in her spare time.